July 2019 updates: highlights from around the world

Seven surgeons trained to operate on trachoma patients

A group of surgeons have been trained and certified to provide trachoma operations, as part of a push to make sure the most vulnerable communities with the highest number of cases have adequate staff to treat the disease.

The training session took place in Senanga and Nalolo districts of the western province, and featured surgeons from both the southern and eastern provinces.

The surgeons crossed the Zambezi river and drove for long hours on sandy roads to reach the most marginalisedand vulnerable communities living on the banks of the Zambezi. The training was funded by DFID. More from Zambia

Sightsavers joins See Now eye care campaign

The See Now campaign, fronted by Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, aims to help end avoidable blindness in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh by encouraging people to have their eyes tested.

Sightsavers has now joined the campaign, which runs in five key districts: Unnao, Lucknow, Raebareli, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur.  It aims to provide information on eye health issues via radio, TV, print, social media, WhatsApp and SMS, and is expected to reach as many as 10 million people.

Mr Bachchan said: “Vision problems are extremely common in India: about 550 million Indians have serious vision problems. People are often not aware of the availability of quality eye care services. It really is very simple to avoid blindness by preventative care.”

See Now is funded by The Fred Hollows Foundation and in part by Essilor Vision Foundation, working in partnership with Sightsavers India and Vision2020 India, among others. More from India

Medication distributed at night to ensure workers don’t miss out

Sightsavers volunteers have been working through the night to distribute medication to protect people against river blindness, as part of a push to make sure everyone can be treated for the disease.

Traditionally, medication is distributed door to door in local communities during the day. However, this means many workers miss out on the treatment: farmers and gardeners in particular often leave the house very early and return after dark.

The new night-time campaign took place in the Cascades region on 14-23 June. Community volunteers, using the lights from their mobile phones, visited 10 local dwellings, each housing several households, and gave medication to 64 people who would otherwise not have been treated. The work has been funded by Fondation L’Occitane. More from Burkina Faso